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Monday, June 24, 2013

Turning a Flawless Double Play

There is no such thing as a routine double play. Although it may appear routine to the casual fan, a lot has to go right to execute a twin killing.

Throughout the course of the season, I have noticed a lot of potential double plays wind up being a fielder's choice, or, worse yet, a bad throw that results in an error and advances the runner to second base.

The main problem is that infielders, specifically second baseman, are late getting to the bag. This can be because they were not in the proper starting position, had a false perception of their abilities, or used incorrect pivots.

Here are ways to improve your spacing to turn a flawless double play.

Double-Play Depth

The middle infielders should be in the proper double play depth before the pitch is even thrown so they can get to the bag early enough to set their feet. But what is proper double play depth? Before we answer that, let's start with positioning with no one on base. In that case, each middle infielder should be approximately six to eight steps away from the base and 14 step back. This is a good starting point from which to adjust.

From this point, when there's a runner on first with one or no outs, each middle infielder should take three steps toward home plate and two to three steps toward second base. This is standard double play depth.